Dezeen Magazine

Living room

Messana O'Rorke places marble bathrooms in Malin + Goetz founders' New York apartment

New York studio Messana O'Rorke has extended its collaboration with skincare brand Malin + Goetz by designing an apartment for its founders on Manhattan's Upper West Side, where special attention was paid to the bathrooms.

After creating store interiors for the brand across the US for several years, Messana O'Rorke turned its attention to a space for co-founders Matthew Malin and Andrew Goetz to live in.

Living room
Messana O'Rorke renovated the apartment in a historic building on West 76th Street

The apartment on West 76th Street was fully renovated for the couple to reflect their passions for beauty and wellness, while embracing the building's history.

"The space creates a gentle push and pull between the comfort of the past and the vigor of the present – embedded in the architectural details," said Messana O'Rorke.

Den
A mixture of contemporary and vintage furniture and artworks imbue the spaces with personality

These details include a traditional baseboard that encircles the main living spaces but ends abruptly in the central vestibule, where it is replaced with a quarter-inch (0.6-centimetre) shadow gap between the walls and floor for a more modern look.

Reclaimed oak parquet flooring is laid in a herringbone pattern throughout most of the rooms, providing the air of a European pied-à-terre.

Kitchen
Light materials were used for surfaces in the narrow kitchen

A simplified version of a plaster relief detail – found during the demolition of a dropped ceiling in the bedroom – also wraps the wall and ceiling junctions, suggestive of crown moulding.

While these details all tie the living spaces together, it's in the bathrooms that Messana O'Rorke has made the most dramatic interventions.

Bathroom
In the two bathrooms, Carrera marble lines the walls, floors and showers

"Given that the homeowners are the founding partners of Malin + Goetz, Messana O'Rorke paid particular attention to the design of the two bathrooms, which reflect the beauty brand's ethos as a modern apothecary," said the studio.

Unlacquered brass fixtures and hardware are installed against Carrera marble, which clads the walls, floors and showers to create a "spa-like" feeling.

Shower
A hidden light strip appears to wash the stone in the shower with daylight

In one bathroom, mirrors surround a window above the sink, where more brass is used to line the recess and forms a trim around the perimeter.

A shower is illuminated from a hidden pocket in the ceiling, giving the illusion that the stone wall is washed with daylight.

The same marble is continued in the narrow kitchen as countertops and backsplash, keeping the space light in tandem with white cabinets and stainless steel appliances.

Furniture is a blend of contemporary and vintage, mixing dark woods with sofas in muted velvet upholstery.

Bathroom
Unlacquered brass is used for fixtures and to line a window recess

A variety of artworks decorate the living room and den walls, while a large collection of books fills shelves in the office – both providing more colour and personality to the apartment.

"Much like the Malin + Goetz boutiques the firm had previously designed, a single vintage display element subtly offsets the taut architectural envelope; the furnishings and interior appointments bridge the traditional and the modern," Messana O'Rorke said.

Hallway
Herringbone patterned parquet was laid through the living spaces

The studio was founded in 1996 by Brian Messana and Toby O'Rorke, and has previously renovated an 18th-century home in Upstate New York.

Renovations on the Upper West Side completed by other studios include a residence by Stadt Architecture where existing brickwork walls were paired with walnut floors and a 1920s apartment overhauled with custom millwork by Format Architecture Office.

The photography is by Stephen Kent Johnson.